1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to the field of motor vehicles, and more particularly to the provision of one or more ski-like or runner members substitutable for wheel type support structure. Closely related thereto in an alternative manifestation, this invention pertains generally to land vehicles, and more particularly to vehicles with runners applied to the wheels of wheeled vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many parts of the country, transportation is taken for granted. Through a vast network of paved and well-maintained roads and readily available and affordable automobiles and motorcycles, the vast majority of people are able to travel where they need to, and in most cases can also take time to travel for recreational purposes as well. In addition to automobiles and motorcycles, which perform admirably on wet or dry roadways, other types of motor vehicles have proved to be useful and beneficial, and so are being used by more people.
One such vehicle is an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV), which is designed to traverse diverse areas, including both roadways and also unpaved areas where automobiles and motorcycles are unable. An ATV may have three or more wheels, and will often have four. The tires are often relatively wide and of large diameter, and the ATV will often have a relatively soft suspension having a long travel. The combination of large diameter tire and long, soft suspension permits the ATV to travel over rough terrain, and also helps the ATV to stay on the surface of ground that would otherwise be impassable by many other motor vehicles, such as mud and loose sand. Most ATVs are also relatively smaller and lighter than an automobile, and may typically be designed to transport one or two persons.
ATVs have filled a void in motor transportation, by permitting people to travel in areas that previously were passable only on foot or with the assistance of animals such as horses or the like. Their utility for agriculture, emergency, light duty towing and plowing, and many other work activities has created a significant demand. Further, they have enabled people to travel when road conditions might otherwise have previously prevented them. This can be crucial during an emergency, when motorized transportation may be critical to the preservation of life. Finally, ATVs have also proven to be quite enjoyable for most people to operate recreationally, further expanding the applications and prevalence of these machines.
In spite of the many benefits derived from an ATV, they do have limitations. One of these is in the northern climates, where snow can get quite deep and last for long periods of time. While an ATV can pass through relatively shallower snow depths, as the snow deepens, the ATV will sink into the snow, and passage through the snow becomes sufficiently difficult that the ATV motor and transmission may be damaged.
Recognizing these limitations, artisans have provided track drives that replace the ATV wheels, and which have much larger surface area than the tires. These track drives resemble those found on snowmobiles, and the intent is to enable the ATV to perform in an environment where previously only a snowmobile would have been able to travel. Instead of the single track found on most typical snowmobiles, a four-wheel ATV will generally be fitted with four tracks, such that each wheel is replaced with a track. The tracks permit the ATV to be driven through more extreme ground than would have been possible with tires, such as through extremely slippery mud or very deep snow. However, this also requires that the ATV be an all-wheel drive model. Noteworthy here is that many ATVs are not all-wheel drive. Furthermore, tracks require more power to drive and operate, regardless of the surface, than tires that are operated on relatively smooth and level ground. Consequently, even in the case of an all-wheel drive ATV, the tracks require enough more power that an operator may accidentally overwork the engine and transmission.
Others in the field of wheeled motor vehicles have contemplated ways to enable the motor vehicles to be operated on more diverse surfaces or through challenging weather. Exemplary patents that replace wheels with hub-attached skis, and in many cases, drive tracks, the contents and teaching which are incorporated herein by reference, include U.S. Pat. No. 1,545,264 by Logan, entitled “Motor sled”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,444 by Leclair, entitled “Runner attachment for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,433,122 by Coffey et al, entitled “Motor vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,437,408 by Estes, entitled “Automobile sled”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,449,036 by Feden, entitled “Automobile sleigh attachment”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,511,331 by Harris, entitled “Motor sleigh”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,522,816 by Ghent et al, entitled “Runner attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,575,174 by Mierzejewski, entitled “Motor sleigh”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,576,395 by Wood et al, entitled “Attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,611,193 by Hegerland, entitled “Sleigh attachment for motor vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,642,714 by Barrett, entitled “Auto wheel sleigh runner”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,701,212 by Nickerson, entitled “Sleigh attachment for motor vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,825,133 by Spacsek, entitled “Sled attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,907,236 by Bellerive, entitled “Drive attachment for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,289 by Larkin, entitled “Surface vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,521,897 by Fester et al, entitled “Mechanism for detachably attaching a runner to a vehicle wheel”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,559 by Jones et al, entitled “Endless track attachment for motorcycles”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,592,279 by Donelson, entitled “Snow scooter”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,727 by Graham, entitled “Runner attachment for motorcycle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,301 by Henricks, entitled “Convertible snow motorcycle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,342 by Pushnig et al, entitled “Convertible snow track-wheeled scooter type vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,967 by O'Brien et al, entitled “Ski construction for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,938 by DeGroot, entitled “Convertible ground and snow traveling vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,525 by O'Brien et al, entitled “Ski construction for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,229 by Hirose et al, entitled “Endless articulated steel band vehicle for off-road services”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,336 by Nakasaki et al, entitled “Snowmobile”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,422 by Carpenter et al, entitled “Recreational wheeled accessory carrier”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,275 by Shaw, entitled “Conversion system for all terrain vehicles”; DE 3233455 by Haltmayer, entitled “Snow equipment for a motor vehicle”; EP 0391282 by Yoshioka et al, entitled “Snow vehicle”; FR2599699 by Bruzzone, entitled “Device and corresponding accessories for converting a moped into a vehicle suitable for operating on snowy ground”; and WO 99/43540 by Forbes, entitled “Snow vehicle”.
These conversion apparatus have the benefit of providing very secure and solid coupling into the vehicle carriage structure, meaning that, when properly installed, they are very reliable. They also have the unfortunate limitation of disabling, and in most cases, completely removing the drive wheels. This leaves the vehicle disabled except when there is sufficient snow, mud or other slippery surface for the runners to slide. Furthermore, an operator must spend a substantial amount of time removing each tire and replacing it, time that further includes undesirable risks associated therewith. These risks include potential damage to the tires, hubs, or the person doing the work. As a result, only the most critical of applications will lead an owner or operator to carry out the work of switching away from tires, and, then once switched, the owner or operator will be quite reluctant to switch back. This effectively leads the owner to desire two vehicles, one which has runners and/or tracks for snow, and one which is wheeled for best performance on paved areas. This is exactly the situation that the replacement of wheels was intended to address, meaning few operators will continue to switch back and forth between tracks and wheels, unless extreme circumstances demand them to do so.
Another group of artisans have attempted to avoid the need for removing the vehicle tires. Patents illustrating wheel-coupling skis or runners, the teachings and contents which are incorporated herein by reference, include: U.S. Pat. No. 861,037 by Kubelka, entitled “Sleigh attachment for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,218,128 by Swanson, entitled “Sled runner attachment for vehicle wheels”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,336,448 by Tollbom, entitled “Auto sled”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,337,153 by Peterson, entitled “Runner attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,345,321 by Enberg, entitled “Runner for side cars”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,350,069 by Corsepius, entitled “Sled-runner attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,363,148 by Morse, entitled “Sleigh attachment for autos”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,392,438 by Nelson, entitled “Sleigh attachment for autos”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,406,207 by Miller, entitled “Sleigh runner for motor vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,425,835 by Bufe, entitled “Auto sleigh attachment”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,438,326 by Nelson, entitled “Vehicle runner”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,449,738 by Ducatt, entitled “Runner attachment for wheels”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,460,605 by Rantasa, entitled “Automobile sleigh attachment”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,629,061 by Armstrong, entitled “Sled attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,631,873 by Knight, entitled “Wheel runner”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,733,774 by Brye, entitled “Snow runner for vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,774,835 by Lombard, entitled “Traction device”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,810,042 by Gerth, entitled “Snow runner”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,471 by Billings, entitled “Landing ski for airplanes”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,284,075 by Tucker et al, entitled “Snow tractor”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,602 by Clark, entitled “Ski attachment for wheeled vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,818,265 by Calderwood, entitled “Runner attachment for wheels”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,307 by Dombrowski, entitled “Sleigh runners for automobiles and airplanes”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,525 by Perry, entitled “Sled runner for tractors”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,383 by Roe, entitled “Snow runners for vehicle wheels”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,266 by McEvoy, entitled “Snow shoe for automobile wheel”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,252,533 by Aeder et al, entitled “Snow scooter”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,994 by Pederson, entitled “Endless crawler attachment for cycles”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,674 by Puhl, entitled “Wheelbarrow attachment”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,665 by Stanaback, entitled “Tandem axle vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,820 by Wachholz, entitled “Endless track attachment for motorcycles”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,821 by Humphrey, entitled “Track for motorcycle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,473,818 by Meredith, entitled “Ski attachments for wheels”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,879 by Wilson, entitled “Convertible vehicle”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,001 by Rasenberger, entitled “Track assembly for converting wheeled vehicles”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,437 by Howerton et al, entitled “Snow track belt for motorcycle”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,876 by Harris, entitled “Ski attachment for vehicle wheels”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,361 by Mosher, entitled “Ski-rail for a wagon”.
This technology allows the operator to leave wheels attached to hubs, but is not without other limitations. There are several limitations that carry throughout most of the prior art. One limitation is the undesirable need to lift or jack the vehicle wheels up in order to install the skis As might be appreciated, jacking or otherwise lifting a vehicle always presents undesirable risk, requires significant time, and limits when and where the runners may be attached. Another prior art limitation is the need to secure directly to a portion of the wheel inside of the outer circumference. Such requirement limits those inventions to particular wheel types, and potentially even particular wheel diameters. Further, such securement tends to be localized, such as in the Kubelka patent, meaning that the front tire is secured with two fasteners passing inside of the tire rim. Should there be large forces applied to the ski or runner, the forces will not be evenly distributed throughout the tire, and instead will be concentrated at the two anchor points. This can lead to unintended damage or deformation of the rim. Yet another prevalent limitation is the need for tools to execute the attachment and removal of the runners.
Two exemplary patents illustrate runners that may be driven into, the teachings and contents which are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 2,437,622 by Stryker, entitled “Skid runner attachment for vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,211 by Bryant et al, entitled “Runner attachment”. These constructs greatly facilitate the installation of the runner, and do not require special tools. Unfortunately, and depending upon the vehicle, travel speed, and surface being traversed, very large twisting forces or torque may be applied between the runner and tire. The lack of additional structure enables undesirable movement between runner and tire, and can lead to dangerous separation therebetween.
Two additional exemplary patents illustrate improvement by providing side walls that can capture the wheels, providing further support and reducing the likelihood of catastrophic disconnect. The patents, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, include: U.S. Pat. No. 2,321,561 by Bircher, entitled “Ski mechanism for aircraft”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,883,204 by Tomasovich, entitled “Tractor ski”. The Bircher patent requires a known width of tire in order to capture the tire in the cage properly, and so must be sized to co-operate with a single width of tire. While Tomasovich can accommodate tires of different widths, this is only because the side walls are captured between immediately adjacent front wheels found essentially only on tractors.
Three additional patents that illustrate concepts relevant to the present invention, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, include: U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,926 by Chase, entitled “Ski device for wheeled vehicles”; EP 0270237 by Cartwright et al, entitled “Improvements in crawler-track attachments for all-terrain vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,486 by Torgrimson, entitled “Sled runner attachment for wheeled vehicles”. The Chase patent illustrates a runner that is secured about the outer circumference of a wheel using an over-center clamp, and which captures the wheel in a pocket. However, the pocket has low wall height, in all likelihood to facilitate drive-on capability, but this low wall height also means that there is almost no effective wall support, meaning that this design is prone to limitations similar to Stryker and Bryant et al above, where the lack of sufficient additional wall structure enables undesirable twisting movement between runner and tire, and can lead to dangerous separation therebetween. In other words, if the walls of Chase are elevated, then the vehicle will need to be lifted in, but if the walls are lower to permit drive-in coupling, then there will not be sufficient support to prevent relative twisting between tire and runner. Torgrimson has elevated side supports, but, like other patents discussed herein above, the Torgrimson concept has a single securement directly to a portion of the wheel inside of the outer circumference. This limits that concept to a particular wheel type and diameter, and, since the securement tends to be localized to the single fastener passing inside of the tire rim, in the event large forces are applied to the ski or runner, the forces will not be evenly distributed throughout the tire, and instead will be concentrated at the single anchor point. This can lead to unintended damage or deformation of the rim. The Cartwright patent overcomes many of the aforementioned limitations, but does not clearly permit drive-on installation, and definitely requires the use of tools to enable the apparatus to be attached to a tire.
Other patents, the contents and teachings which are incorporated herein by reference, include: U.S. Pat. No. 1,566,085 by Geaudreau, entitled “Runner attachment for automobiles”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,844,295 by Perry, entitled “Landing gear for aircraft”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,752 by Feu, entitled “Motorized snow vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,015 by Yochum, entitled “Rear swing arm assembly for three or four wheeled off-the-road vehicle track conversion unit”.
In addition to the aforementioned patents, Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.